If what you mean is getting into the playoffs translates into more money..one would think this should lead to a profit. Apparently not true in every case. Mr Ariston owner of the Heat said recently that the Heat lost money inspite of going all the way. I suppose one can pay themselves a healthy salary and bonuses (especially for Riley) or do other accounting magic tricks. This is pro sports after all.

If what you mean is getting into the playoffs translates into more money..one would think this should lead to a profit. Apparently not true in every case. Mr Ariston owner of the Heat said recently that the Heat lost money inspite of going all the way. I suppose one can pay themselves a healthy salary and bonuses (especially for Riley) or do other accounting magic tricks. This is pro sports after all.

i think that he is talking ticket revenue and food sales. i doubt he is taking into account tv deals, jersey sales and all the peripheral monies. just my opinion though, obviously i haven't seen the books.

Call me crazy but I think Lowry has a good chance to become an all star this year. The guy can score and dish it out. Last year before the all start break he was averaging nearly 16 and 8.

Also, if we can get a good player via a Calderon trade, I can see this team competing for a playoff spot next year. This team is already good defensively and with the additions we've certainly improved on both sides of the courts.

Call me crazy but I think Lowry has a good chance to become an all star this year. The guy can score and dish it out. Last year before the all start break he was averaging nearly 16 and 8.

Also, if we can get a good player via a Calderon trade, I can see this team competing for a playoff spot next year. This team is already good defensively and with the additions we've certainly improved on both sides of the courts.

Well, I hope Lowry can be an All-Star next year, but it's gonna be pretty hard for him to make the All-star roster when he has such big competition. That would be mainly Williams, John Wall, Irving, and Rose (if he come back and plays well). With that much competition in the point guard position, I think he'll be realistically a borderline all-star. I really hope Lowry can prove me wrong and just have a blowout season! I would be even more amazing if both Lowry and Barg can be All-stars, but I think that wet dream is pushing it

Well, I hope Lowry can be an All-Star next year, but it's gonna be pretty hard for him to make the All-star roster when he has such big competition. That would be mainly Williams, John Wall, Irving, and Rose (if he come back and plays well). With that much competition in the point guard position, I think he'll be realistically a borderline all-star. I really hope Lowry can prove me wrong and just have a blowout season! I would be even more amazing if both Lowry and Barg can be All-stars, but I think that wet dream is pushing it

i think that he has to beat out kyrie. wall' hype has died down and he would really have to do some winning/great play to get back in the conversation. i think the east is williams/rondo/irving right now at the pg. for the ny fans we can pretend that chubchub is great too with a chance to make the team. haha.

if lowry can come out and lead this team to a respectable record he might be a coaches decision addition. i think rondo and williams are in for sure.

i think that he has to beat out kyrie. wall' hype has died down and he would really have to do some winning/great play to get back in the conversation. i think the east is williams/rondo/irving right now at the pg. for the ny fans we can pretend that chubchub is great too with a chance to make the team. haha.

if lowry can come out and lead this team to a respectable record he might be a coaches decision addition. i think rondo and williams are in for sure.

I think Wall will surprise people next year especially when the team doesn't have as many knuckleheads in it anymore and actually have very good veteran/talented players in its roster (mainly Nene, Okafor, and Beal). Wall probably won't make the All-star game either, but I think he'll have a much better year than his previous years. Kyrie is kinda iffy for me right now. I think he can continue to improve upon his impressive rookie year. If he can up his PPG a bit more and up his APG up to maybe 7-8, I think he has a decent chance at the All-star game. Yea, Felton is pretty chubby now, so no chance. I really want Kyle Lowry to succeed and become an All-star caliber point guard, but I think we would have to get everyone in Canada to vote for him :P

Do you mean 10-15 wins better than 23 wins based on 66 or 82 game season?

Given raps won one more game in 16 less games played I am going to assume you meant 66 games - correct if wrong.

Assuming health I think Raps could manage 41 wins which is what 10 plus wins in an 82 game season would equate to.

Haha.. I knew someone would ask that. I think we'll have 10-15 more wins than last year. Period.

Which means 33-38 games won, which is a huge improvement. I think a .500 season is being overly optimistic.. (I know we're talking about 3 wins here) but put it this way, I don't see us winning half our games. A little less than half is a real possibility though.

I still see this as year 2 of a 3-year rebuilding phase before this team gets competitive. We're much more talented than last year no question, but we're also very young. I think we'll be inconsistent like any other young team. While true that last year our guys caught on to Casey's system, there's 4-5 new guys that know nothing about that system and two of them are starters. We also have at least 2 guys who will be hitting the rookie wall at the 50-game mark (or so) as they'll be on the receiving end of what I expect to be fairly significant minutes.

I think 33-38 wins is pretty reasonable, and builds on last season. Two years ago we won 27% of our games, and drafted a player that we didn't get to use and basically went into the next season with a coaching upgrade. The result was we won 35% of our games, which is a great improvement considering no pre-season. Now we have the same coach, but a whole bunch of new and young players. I think an estimate of another 8-10% improvement is pretty reasonable.

Assuming JV and TR aren't busts, I would assume we become a competitive team and make the playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed in the 2013-2014 season, and if they are as good as advertised, then we're looking at 5+ years of not only making the playoffs but being contenders in the East for at least half a decade until salary demands get too high and we have to part ways with some of the talent.

I hope everyone is thrilled with Lowry, because according to this ESPN article, we were in the thick (possibly lead?) for the Lin sweepstakes on July 1st. So, Lowry better be the better player next season.

Assuming JV and TR aren't busts, I would assume we become a competitive team and make the playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed in the 2013-2014 season, and if they are as good as advertised, then we're looking at 5+ years of not only making the playoffs but being contenders in the East for at least half a decade until salary demands get too high and we have to part ways with some of the talent.

Assuming health, I think the playoffs are a real possibility this year.

3 teams that were playoff calibre last year are now worse, in my opinion: Philly (no bigs and minus leading scorer), Atlanta (minus 1 all-star), and soon-to-be Orlando (do not even want an established player in return and gunning for worst winning % of all time as Charlotte breathes a sigh of relief).

Lin is most likely getting the most votes for All Star PG... lucky he's in the west!

he isn't chinese though. i know china outwardly says taiwan is china but the chinese hate taiwanese people. it won't be the same as yao. it won't be small because the government will push him at the people but later when he refuses a request they make he will be attacked.

I think it would be a ethnic solidarity thing. Ordinary people forget about the political bs when it comes to performing on the world stage. Yao was probably big in Taiwan and Lin probably cannot speak Chinese so it's a complex mix. Besides, Lin learned his basketball in the US. The only remaining connection to China/the Chinese people then is his ethnicity. Personally, I dont go for this whole nationalism thing. Just play ball.

I think it would be a ethnic solidarity thing. Ordinary people forget about the political bs when it comes to performing on the world stage. Yao was probably big in Taiwan and Lin probably cannot speak Chinese so it's a complex mix. Besides, Lin learned his basketball in the US. The only remaining connection to China/the Chinese people then is his ethnicity. Personally, I dont go for this whole nationalism thing. Just play ball.

he isn't chinese though. i know china outwardly says taiwan is china but the chinese hate taiwanese people. it won't be the same as yao. it won't be small because the government will push him at the people but later when he refuses a request they make he will be attacked.

I actually think people will still vote for him due to Asian heritage in general. Especially the North American Asian population, which is huge and want some kind of identity in the All-Star game.

There will still be many others who were inspired by his sensationalist story and would want to vote for him, regardless of heritage.

Assuming health, I think the playoffs are a real possibility this year.

3 teams that were playoff calibre last year are now worse, in my opinion: Philly (no bigs and minus leading scorer), Atlanta (minus 1 all-star), and soon-to-be Orlando (do not even want an established player in return and gunning for worst winning % of all time as Charlotte breathes a sigh of relief).

i think washington is in the same boat as us. better on paper but yet to prove themselves. they have a higher ceiling then us for this year i think though.

brooklyn to me can fall off big time if lopez injures himself again. they are going to rely on both dwill and johnson to score 20 a night. i am not sold on the nets. they could very well end up being another over the top media blitz like the knicks.

right now i would say we are fighting for 8th-6th in the east, with the teams you mentioned.

• Casey’s goal for the team is to make the playoffs this season. “I’m not going to guarantee it,” he said, “but it’s a goal. The goal is always to build something, and keep improving. I think it’s a definite possibility.”

The one thing that stood out in a text conversation I had with Dwane yesterday, though, is that he came away impressed with how this group gets along.

I guess there was a big dinner, with the two rookies, Ed Davis, Amir Johnson, Kyie Lowry and Landry Fields and the coaches after the two new guys got out there and Casey said he thinks itís going to be a bit of fun working with these kids.

ďGuys you enjoy being around as a coach,Ē is how Dwane put it.

Now, I donít know how that translates to on-court success but itís a pretty good start.

And now the real work continues; Casey and the coaching staff are going to fan out to go see players and work them out at their homes over the course of the next couple of weeks, making sure the players are staying with the plans and regimens they were given at the end of the regular season. This is when relationships are forged, itís when coaches can see just how diligent the players have been Ė a huge indicator of commitment Ė and when things that will be put in place in camp can at least be marginally addressed and worked on.